List of top Questions asked in GATE Ecology and Evolution

Which one of the following endangered species has been the subject of a reintroduction plan in India?

Compared with bony fish, many shark species show steeper population declines in response to heavy fishing pressure. Which one of the following options explains this?

Which one or more of the following options describe(s) how ferns differ from angiosperms and gymnosperms?

Whales and dolphins are hypothesized to have evolved along the northern shore of the Tethys Sea, prior to the Indian plate’s collision with the Eurasian plate. To which one of the following animals are these aquatic mammals most closely related?

A researcher fitted a function to data on how foraging rate (F, number of items consumed per 10 minutes) of a shorebird varied with its group size (G, number of individuals) and obtained the following equation:𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑒𝐹 = 3 − 0.2 × 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑒G.According to this equation, the foraging rate (F) of a solitary forager is_________________ items per 10 minutes.(Rounded off to the nearest integer)

Two species of birds, A and B, are found together in region X. Only species A is present in region Y. Both species produce species-specific alarm calls in response to a predator P. A researcher conducts experiments where she plays recorded calls of both species to species A in regions X and Y. The response of species A to the recorded calls are summarized in the table below. . Call stimulus Response in region X Response in region Y Alarm call of species A Species A flies for cover Species A flies for cover Alarm call of species B Species A flies for cover Species A does not respond Based on the results, the most appropriate inference is that

The table below lists different insects and taxonomic orders. Choose the option that matches the animal to its correct taxonomic order. Animal Taxonomic order P) Moths i) Hemiptera Q) True bugs ii) Orthoptera R) Crickets iii) Coleoptera S) Beetles iv) Lepidoptera v) Diptera

Islands I, II, and III lie off a mainland coast. Which one of the following statements about species richness is consistent with the theory of island biogeography?

In a polygynous hummingbird species, males defend and monopolize nectar–rich plants (resource). Females visit these plants for nectar and the defending male will have access to all visiting females for mating. Under which scenario is polygyny expected to be the highest?

A researcher estimates the relationship between reproductive success (𝑁, number of offspring) and horn length (𝐻, in cm) in a wild goat as 𝑁 = 40 − 2.2𝐻 + 0.04𝐻 2 Horn length typically varies from 10 cm to 50 cm in this species. Which one of the following graphs correctly represents this relationship?

In haplodiploid organisms, males are haploid and females are diploid. Consider the relatedness diagram shown below. Female A has a full-sister, Y, who has a daughter, B. The relatedness between A and B is ___________. (Rounded off to three decimal places)

Mixed species flocks of birds include social and solitary species. There are 5 social species and 10 solitary species in a forest. Flocks always have a total of 5 species, of which 2 are social and 3 are solitary. The number of types of flocks with unique species composition is ___________. (Answer in integer)

In a zoo, three lions and four tigers eat 390 kg of food every week. In another zoo, four lions and five tigers eat 500 kg of food every week. Lions and tigers eat different amounts of food, but all individuals of the same species eat the same amount. The amount of food a single lion eats per week is _______ kg. (Answer in integer)

You have a biased coin with the probability of getting a head being 0.6. The probability of getting at least 1 head in 3 tosses is ____. (Rounded off to three decimal places)

A lake has 20 blue male, 30 red male, 60 blue female and 80 red female fish. A researcher catches one individual at random from the lake. If the caught fish is blue, the probability that it is female is ____________. (Rounded off to two decimal places)

The barnacle species, Chthamalus stellatus (CS), is found only in the high intertidal zone whereas Balanus glandula (BG) is found only in the low intertidal zone. A researcher transplanted CS from the high to low (T-CS), and BG from the low to high (T-BG) intertidal zones. Additionally, they allowed the species to grow alone or in competition with each other, and quantified survival. Which one or more of the following inferences is/are consistent with the experimental results shown below?

In the figure below, ellipse X represents the combinations of salt concentrations and temperatures that a marine invertebrate species can tolerate. Ellipse Y represents the combinations of salt concentrations and temperatures that this species is actually found in.Which one or more of the following statements about X and Y is/are correct?

A new food requesting behaviour has been observed in bonnet macaques in Bandipur National Park. The macaques extend their hand and make a cooing sound only towards humans, which effectively results in food given to them. If this behaviour is to increase in frequency in the population over time by the process of natural selection, which one or more of the options below is/are necessary condition(s)?

Two co-occurring plant species, A and B, flower at the same time. They are visited by the same pollinator species. If these plants are pollinator-limited, then which one or more of the following statements is/are correct with regard to the figure shown below?

Scorpions on the sand dunes in Syria in September 2022 have the age distribution as shown in Figure P. Scorpions can live to a maximum of 90 days. In all the figure panels, the x-axis represents age class and the y-axis represents number of individuals. Assuming no immigration or emigration, which one or more of the age distribution panels Q, R, S, T is/are possible 30 days later?

The Shannon-Weaver index 𝐻 is a measure of diversity and is calculated as H= -∑𝑝𝑖 𝑙𝑛(𝑝𝑖) where S is the total number of species and 𝑝𝑖 is the proportional abundance of a species i.The table below gives the abundance of different species in a community. The Shannon-Weaver index of reptile diversity in this community is ___________.(Rounded off to two decimal places)Species Abundance Indian gliding lizard 270 Malabar flying frog 325 Travancore tortoise 180 Malabar hornbill 160 Forest cane turtle 120 Malabar pit viper 30

A research team assesses the impact of the invasive species Lantana camara on the seed set of a native flowering plant S. The plant S usually grows in clumps with other individuals of the same or different flowering species. They measure the seed set of flowering individuals of S grown (i) alone; (ii) with a conspecific (same species); (iii) with a native species Q; (iv) with a native species R; (v) with Lantana camara. The figure below shows the mean seed set with 95% confidence intervals for the different treatments.Based on the figure provided, which one or more of the options given is/are correct?

There are two palatable prey species, Q and R, for an insectivorous bird species in a forest. However, the bird searches for and consumes only species Q. According to optimal foraging theory, which one or more of the following conditions can explain the bird choosing to forage only for Q?

Conservation biologists have debated whether protected areas should be designed as a single large patch or as several small patches. Assuming that the total area is the same for the two designs, which one or more of the options describe(s) the conservation benefit(s) of several small patches?

Which one or more options is/are example(s) of niche partitioning between species?